Tag Archives: alternative history

Yep. It’s historic fantasy, a genre I don’t often read, but after a couple weeks of agony and watching the publication date of this new release creep up on me (and past), I broke down and went for it.

Man, am I glad I did.

The Plot:

London. World War I. Ginger Stuyvesant is an American heiress and a powerful medium serving in the British Spirit Corps, a secret, spiritualist force in the military tasked with hearing the field reports of dead soldiers and passing along military intelligence. Continue reading →

This is one of the those where no book will ever compare to what you make up in your head.

“In a world nearly identical to ours, the North won the Civil War, Ben Affleck is the sexiest man alive, and Russia never sold Alaska to the U.S. Instead, Alaska is a rough, beautiful country ruled by a famously eccentric royal family, and urgently in need of a bride for the Crown Prince. But they have no idea what they’re in for when they offer the job to a feisty commoner.”

– The Royal Treatment (Alaskan Royal Family #1) by MaryJanice Davidson

Wait. What? Back up there, Audible. Wil Wheaton. THE Wil Wheaton? Wesley is going to read me a story along with my #1 favorite reader, Kate Reading?

Oh, please don’t suck, plot. Please don’t suck!

Boneshaker is an alternative history novel that is part steampunk, part zombie horror. When an invention created by Leviticus Blue rips up downtown Seattle, it releases noxious gas that turns anyone who inhales it into flesh-hungry rotters. The poisoned part of the city is walled off, and the former booming city is left to wallow out a living while the Civil War wages off to the east. But when Zeke, Leviticus’ son, goes back into the city to find evidence to clear his father’s name, his mother and Leviticus’ widow, Briar, must chase after him, fending off the rotters and fighting a mysterious new villain, Dr. Minnericht.

The world in Boneshaker is amazing, a place where Firefly meets Dawn of the Dead. I was completely drawn into the story, eagerly listening as Priest builds the drab, dangerous land of Seattle bit by bit. Priest is gifted with the ability to write with just the right amount of purple prose: not so descriptive that it is distracting, but a little more verbose than most would dare tempt without going overboard.

The prose and world building are so well done that I didn’t even notice that the characters are extremely one-dimensional and there is very little by way of plot. Nothing really happens in Boneshaker. There’s a lot of appearance of action: running from rotters and flying about in air ships. But it’s just hand-waving, distraction from the fact that the overall story trajectory is superficial at best. There’s no second level of meaning in the book — just movement and dialogue that does not leave a lasting impression. But it is so well done that I didn’t mind. Hell, I didn’t notice until I was past the half-way marker.

I was in love with the novel. Completely and utterly, gushing to Canary The First at every beautiful turn of phrase. And then, about three-quarters through, the book took a nosedive that knocked two canaries off the rating perch and left me feeling very disgruntled.

Where the novel really falls apart is in the villain. For most of the book, Dr. Minnericht is this enigmatic rumor, a person described differently with each new story, every account making him seem more deadly and more dangerous—and each time it’s made more clear that the man may in fact be the infamous Leviticus Blue. I was so eager to finally meet him, to see the man around whom the entire world revolved. And when he did appear, he was such a whiny bitch that the entire story deflated. The weakness of Priest’s characterizations became so evident that it made the rest of the book completely lifeless.

As far as readers go: Kate Reading was brilliant as always. And Wil Wheaton was pleasantly good. The whole thing was very easy on the ears, even if the plot wasn’t too interesting to listen to.

I do think that Cherie Priest is an author to watch. Her style of writing is superb, and she clearly knows how to make a world. She just needs to find a stronger plot on which to hang her words.